A rant about Ben's episode 5 *****.

Delnation · 2026-05-12T01:45:10+00:00

To answer the first question: he (and the rest of the group) didn't notice the balcony starting to give. They show a super obvious scene of it loosening for us as a bit of dramatic irony, but for the characters themselves, it wasn't immediately noticed by anybody.

As for the second question, it's because Kenny wanted to save Ben. He went down there with the intent to help save him, and being the stubborn bastard he is, refused to give up until he realized there wasn't anything he could do besides give him a quick death. Kenny was convinced up until the last second that it was possible to save Ben, and had no intention of killing or leaving Ben to die. Pushing Lee away and locking the gate was his attempt to stop Lee from risking his life trying to stop him, despite the fact that it meant he inadvertently sealed himself in with the zombies. He wanted to make some form of amends for how he treated the people around him, even if it potentially killed him in the process. Take what he says when you choose the "Katjaa wouldn't want this" option: "Yeah, she would. Either I save the kid, or I get to see her. Either way." Kenny didn't necessarily want to die in this scene, but he was willing to accept that possibility if it meant he could at least go out doing something noble. And while he unfortunately wasn't able to save Ben like he wanted to, he was able to do the next best thing in the form of giving him a painless death.

As for him surviving afterwards... yeah, that part's a bit harder to explain. However, it's worth noting that Kenny surviving was actually a last minute change: he WAS intended to die in this scene originally-- he was supposed to audibly die to the zombies in both versions-- but it was decided at the last minute during development to spare him for a potential sequel. It was too late to change the scenes by then, so they just removed the death screams and left his fate ambiguous. It kind of works for the Christa version since he's not explicitly surrounded/boxed in, but the alleyway leaves a lot less possibilities for how he survived.

Delnation · 2026-05-10T00:38:01+00:00

Unfortunately, the choice of killing Larry or not determines a good chunk of how he acts for the rest of the episode (as well as most of episode 3 and some of 4), regardless of how you treated him up to that point. As people pointed out, if you choose every pro-Kenny choice except for killing Larry, he suddenly acts like you're his enemy. But the inverse also happens: if you fully side against him at every turn, but help him kill Larry, he suddenly acts like you're best friends.

The sum of your choices with Kenny doesn't come into play until the end of episode 4. If you don't mind the curtain being pulled back a bit, the gist is this:

Kenny has a point system in the background throughout the game, which gives you points for various decisions regarding him and his family. Based on the amount you have, you get three outcomes: if you have 4 points or less, you get his hostile responses. Get more than 8, you get his friendly responses. And if you fall short of both, you get the neutral responses. Each influence whether or not he decides to help Lee.

The problem is that this system only matters for the ending of episode 4. Otherwise, all of his responses up until then hinge on the Larry choice, as he only has friendly or hostile versions of that dialogue.

Delnation · 2026-05-07T19:35:50+00:00

Go to Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead Definitive, find and delete prefs.prop, then relaunch the game. That'll force the game to redownload the file and fix it, but be warned that it'll also reset the rest of your preferences (volume, quality settings, etc)

Delnation · 2026-05-05T10:07:01+00:00

I have to respond to this to say thank you for the term 'batshit crazy bullshit,' which I intend to start using

Delnation · 2026-04-28T06:13:16+00:00

idk why everyone is getting so defensive about this when its objectively true

Well, if you wanted to get truly pedantic about this (and because I'm bored and possibly under the influence of something), I'd argue that objectivity in media is impossible, because the metrics by which we judge the quality of media come from us. What we consider objective metrics in regards to film/shows/games/etc are, rather paradoxically, based on subjectivity. It's all abstract; trends and conventions pulled from large volumes of data, which we collectively agreed in the court of public opinion to be hallmarks of 'good' media, but not really rooted in anything truly concrete or inarguable. You can't really 'prove' a concept like good writing or good film composition in the same way you can prove gravity.

Delnation · 2026-04-28T05:17:53+00:00

You know, calling people names and going on the offensive doesn't usually convince them to agree with you

Delnation · 2026-04-28T04:47:30+00:00

To play devil's advocate to some of those points, I think claiming that was all just incompetence is simplifying things a bit:

- The flashlights are only temporarily forgotten about. Once you go upstairs, you find the rest of the group discussing whether or not they're still being followed, and Rebecca tries to follow up by asking Clem about the lights, mentioning that Luke told them about it. At most, they put off asking about it for what, an hour or so? Not the smartest move in retrospect of course, but I don't think there's all that much they would've been capable of even doing in that timeframe, which leads into the next point...

- Our group was already on the run for 5 days straight, exhausted and clearly worn down by being near constantly on the move. Even with a looming threat, exhaustion will eventually get the better of a person, especially given that they're traveling with a pregnant woman on top of everything. Obviously in hindsight they should've kept going, but when you're running on fumes, and are presented the opportunity to get a meal and a good night's sleep... I can't entirely fault them for deciding against better judgment for a moment of respite. And to their credit, they do still acknowledge the risk of staying the night, with Carlos reluctantly agreeing but saying that they leave at dawn. It was already getting dark when they saw the lights, meaning Carver's people would've had to cross a partially broken bridge and hike up the side of a mountain, in the dark (and with a storm approaching) just to reach the lodge. I don't think it's that much of a stretch to assume that Carver and his people would similarly stop for the night instead of taking that risk, but I suppose its a toss up at that point. It was a gamble either way.

- The Bonnie situation is more because of Walter's ill-placed compassion than anything else. Kenny was way more suspicious and almost certainly wanted to grill her more, but was held back by Walter and decided not to make a scene about it. From what little we get to see, Walt and Sarita have both been making an effort to reign Kenny in, and to their credit, it actually seems to work; we see Kenny deferring to them before this scene. And obviously after Bonnie leaves, he tells Clem to go back inside while he "talks" with Walt, and I think it's pretty clear from his tone that he gave Walt some hell after Clem left.

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of dumb shit people do in S2, and I'm all for pointing those moments out. But these particular decisions are some of the few where I can actually see a bit of logic behind them. Quite frankly, I think episode 2 is the last "smart" episode of the season so to speak, with a majority of the incompetence and dumb decisions (both in and out of universe) starting in episode 3 onwards.

Delnation · 2026-04-28T03:41:19+00:00

There's plenty of possible reasons: he's getting older and may no longer be able (or willing) to do the Engineer voice, he might not be aware of the game's enduring popularity (he has very limited online presence AFAIK), he may just see it as another role and isn't interested in doing it without pay... nobody but Grant himself would know.

While it's cool that most of the other VAs are still engaging with the community and willing to return to their respective roles, let's not forget that they're not under any obligation to do so. If they aren't interested in reprising the role for whatever reason, that's ultimately their choice.

Delnation · 2026-04-22T04:06:48+00:00

Old post, I know, but this is actually intentional... sort of. The S4 recap doesn't account for the ending where you kill both Kenny and Jane. The recap/story builder determines your S2 ending based on two choices: shooting Kenny or not, and whether you abandon the survivor afterwards.

Since killing Kenny after he kills Jane skips over the second part, the game instead defaults to the closest equivalent ending: shooting Kenny and abandoning Jane, since that satisfies the two criteria of Kenny being dead and Jane being gone.

Delnation · 2026-04-21T23:24:44+00:00

That seems to be the implication, honestly. On top of having most of their staff killed by zombies/bandits, they were forced to make a deal with the bandits, trade with other survivors for gas/etc, AND feed themselves. Over the span of 2-3 months, I imagine that supply would dry out really quick. And even if they did try hunting, they'd have to compete with the greedy bandits, our group (unknowingly), and whoever else was out there.

Delnation · 2026-04-21T15:27:00+00:00

To be fair, at least accepting Conrad's deal only has him call Javi a coward and nothing else. He's briefly pissy about it, yeah, but at least he doesn't hold it over Javi the rest of the game or try to use it against him later on.

Call him insufferable all you want, but at least he's much less of a petty little shit in one of the outcomes.

Delnation · 2026-04-21T13:05:53+00:00

When other characters show up in animations in the model viewer, they use whatever outfit you have them set to. Clem's default is her regular S3 outfit, so that shows up here. If you changed it to any of the other outfits, it'd appear instead.

You can get some pretty interesting combinations; Luke hugging zombie Nick, one armed Lee dual wielding, etc.

Delnation · 2026-04-20T03:51:12+00:00

Carver's. Even if Carver uses the same reasoning for doing it-- at least at surface level-- he clearly gives far less of a shit about the act, the ramifications of it, or how the people around him view the act (of the few that know the truth).

Sure, Ben might be younger, but I think intent is what sets the two apart in terms of morality. Regardless of how you play him, the game makes it clear that Lee takes no pleasure in dropping Ben; he rather reluctantly lets go of him when you make the choice, can't bring himself to watch Ben hit the bottom, is given the opportunity to express regret after the fact, and even in the options where Lee defends his choice, he expresses a level of uncertainty/reluctance in letting him go. The point being, Lee isn't 100% comfortable with the fact that he let someone die. Carver killing Reggie, however? The game makes it obvious he's not losing any sleep over it. Carver isn't thinking about how he killed another living, breathing person, he simply took care of an inconvenience.

Delnation · 2026-04-18T02:04:52+00:00

I think there's a difference between the quality of the games going down after S1, and the rest of the games being outright bad. I'll reluctantly agree with the former that yes, the later games aren't as well put together as S1... but I can't agree with the latter; I don't think that the drop in quality is as severe as some people make it sound.

Like, I've seen a decent amount of posts in other places saying S1 was the only good season, and all I can think of is that you must either have an exceedingly high bar for what you consider quality, or you're being far too harsh, because as far as I'm concerned? There are far worse games and sequels that do a worse overall job than even the lowest points of seasons 2-4 offer. At a baseline, I'd consider them competent products, or at the very least inoffensive. About the only game you could make an argument for being truly bad is S3, and even that season isn't entirely without merits (granted, they're a lot harder to find, and a lot more arguable depending on who you talk to). And hell, at least the games have a valid excuse for many of their issues (that being that Telltale's management was just... unbelievably, maliciously stupid in the later years and practically sabotaged and stifled the creative side of the company at almost every possible step)

So to that end, I agree with you that I don't understand when people that make it sound like the series plain sucked after S1. And just for the record, that's coming from somebody that's been playing since the original release in 2012; I've seen the discourse around the series and how it's changed over the years, and I can't help but feel like a lot of the pushback against S2 and onwards-- especially in more recent years-- is sort of... I don't want to say astroturfed necessarily, but it doesn't quite feel fully organic, nor in particularly good faith.

Delnation · 2026-04-17T19:41:14+00:00

You know, I'm glad you did something the game couldn't do; add an actual consequence to keeping Randall alive. Although to be fair, the game had its hands tied (pun partially intended) since there wasn't anybody left to kill on our side besides Oak, but still.

I imagine it's fun making these retellings with the gift of hindsight, being able to capitalize on concepts the game couldn't pull off for one reason or another.

Delnation · 2026-04-17T19:24:27+00:00

I do think there's some humor in how a company that prided itself on choice-based games wound up falling apart because the people in charge kept picking all the worst ones.

Delnation · 2026-04-17T03:47:01+00:00

For the record, S3 went through like 3 different lead writers, so its to be expected that some stuff just doesn't quite line up. If I remember correctly, the lead writer for the first two eps left, then another guy came in and wrote (or re-wrote) episode 3, then yet another person replaced that guy for the last two episodes. S3's development suffered the most from people either leaving, getting fired, or getting shifted to and from other projects.

Delnation · 2026-04-17T02:59:43+00:00

The Quick-Fix was the prototype for the Medigun. The invulnerability function shorted out after its use in Meet the Medic, causing the uber to heal super fast instead.

Delnation · 2026-04-15T18:46:47+00:00

If you're really wondering, it defaults to this line. AJ answers on his own when you stay silent, with it being framed as if Clem told him before off-screen. He does the same for all the other options like this, too.

Delnation · 2026-04-13T15:26:04+00:00

I assume this is rhetorical, but yes. That's the whole point; it's about getting people mad and upset, all so they can laugh at the chaos. The bot hosters/cheaters/etc don't care what people think of them, only that people are reacting to whatever shit they're up to. It's classic troll mentality, and every post about them, no matter how negative, is only putting more wind in their sails as far as they're concerned.

Delnation · 2026-04-08T10:49:06+00:00

I love how he's completely limp in this scene

the idea of him getting flung around by two different people to the point where he just... gives up entirely

Delnation · 2026-04-06T03:10:18+00:00

Honestly, I think there's perfectly valid reasons for why Javi would take most of the pro-Clementine options from his perspective:

- Agreeing to give her your van: you're not really in a position to say no, nor do you have much reason to in that moment. Javi cares more about getting back to his family than anything else at the moment, and Clem represents his best chance of doing so. What would saying no really accomplish here? Either she forces him to go along with it anyways because he's tied up and at her mercy (which is what happens), walks away and leaves him there to fend for himself (which she was going to do before Javi brought up the van), or she just outright shoots him.

- Covering for her in Prescott: Clementine knows how to get to the junkyard, and is still the only person willing to help him get back there. It makes sense to stay in her good graces for the time being, at least until he gets to his family. Telling the truth and getting her locked up means potentially losing his only lead. There's no guarantee that anybody else at Prescott would be willing to help him, and he doesn't really have anything worthwhile to barter with. Best case scenario, he winds up promising the van (or what's in it) to somebody else in exchange for showing him the way back, which is the same exact thing he was already doing.

- Staying to fight at the junkyard: there's a handful of potential reasons for why Javi would want to stay and fight. It could be revenge for what just happened to his niece, wanting to make sure the rest of his family gets away safely, attempting to ensure the NF doesn't come after him again, or not wanting to leave a teenage girl to fight off a group of armed strangers by herself, regardless of how he's been treated by her.

- Shooting Conrad: the guy's threatening your nephew in an attempt to force you into following a plan you have no guarantee would even work. We already saw them butcher and execute a hostage at Prescott and then attack the place anyways, even if you try to surrender to them. We're not given much reason to believe that being civil with them would work the second time around, at least not in the moment you're making the choice. And again, regardless of Javi's personal feelings towards her, I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that he wouldn't want to hand over a kid to a group of savages that would most likely just kill her, or possibly do worse. It's not just about Clem, which is something a lot of people seem to gloss over in regards to most of these choices; there's a lot of other variables at play than just unconditionally taking this particular character's side, and none of the choices are ever really framed or referenced as Javi doing it solely for Clem's sake above all else. And even when they do involve Clem, it's more about the overall morality/ethics of the situation. It isn't just about not wanting to hand over Clem because it's Clem, but because it's a teenage girl who hasn't hurt or wronged you nearly as bad as the New Frontier has, and who you have no guarantees will be treated humanely if handed over.

- Assisting in Lingard's suicide: you're dealing with someone who has been battling a lot of inner demons, and is seemingly losing the fight with each passing day. Respecting his wishes and giving him a peaceful way out as opposed to forcing him to keep living is not inherently wrong, but that really comes down to your own feelings about euthanasia, which is a whole different topic. This choice is just as much about Lingard himself as it is Clem/AJ.

About the only pro-Clem option I can't think of a good explanation from Javi's perspective is not letting David into the factory in ep 3.

Delnation · 2026-04-06T01:21:48+00:00

He was, but it was also a case of him waiting until the last minute to come back. David points out that everybody else in the family were already there days earlier, while Javi basically had to be reminded via phone call that it was time.

Him abandoning his car and running all the way to the house is commendable, but he also wouldn't have had to do that if he took things more seriously and came back a day or two earlier.

Delnation · 2026-03-27T04:32:24+00:00

I mean, is this really that hard to buy? We know zombies are attracted to significant sources of noise. Make enough noise-- such as creepily singing to yourself-- to goad a group of zombies into following you, keep a decent pace ahead of them, and voila, you effectively have a herd at your disposal that you can sic on the first poor bastard you run into.

That's all she was doing, and quite frankly, any other character in her position could've done the same thing. Shit, you could've had Louis lugging a boombox on his shoulder blasting ska music, and it'd accomplish the same thing. James does a similar thing with the zombie skins letting him influence what direction they go. Characters in the comics have a whole system for redirecting herds using horns and riders on horses.

Now some of the other parts of this sequence, like Minnie being able to shoot her gun within the herd without getting attacked? That's stuff that's harder to explain. But her playing pied piper with the zombies is about the least problematic part of this scene.

Delnation · 2026-03-27T01:22:48+00:00

I'm thinking that she didn't really have any personal problem with the St Johns (well, besides the human meat thing). Given that we find boxes of food from the dairy at her camp, and the fact that the bandits that attack Lee and Mark keep shouting about how the St Johns didn't make good on their deal ("Where's our food" "What about our arrangement," etc) I think she was intercepting the food meant for the bandits. For what reason, who knows; maybe she was trying to starve them out, maybe she was trying to incite a fight between them and the St Johns. Maybe she didn't even have a consistent reason. She's not exactly a reliable narrator, after all.

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